U.S. does not ask Canada to extend Afghan mission

hmm... dont dont honestly think we can leave afghanistan in 2011. Currently, things in Afghanistan are a bit too hot (no pun intended) for the Canadian Forces to leave Afghanistan.

Pretty misleading headline. Natynczyk wouldn't be the one the Yanks would approach about extending the mission.

Ridiculous. We get out in 2011 and stop wasting any more money on this quagmire. We've subsidised this Yank war long enough.

The part that I love is the headline says "US does not ask Canada to extend" but in the third paragraph it says they didnt discuss our withdrawl....but they choose the headline about extension.

Personally I dont see how we can leave in 2011 without other "Nato" countries coming into the fold and doing some work...regardless of how you feel Streaker!!

Extending this unpopular mission beyond 2011 so far appears to be a political impossibility, though. Even the Conservative government seems to realise this.

Political considerations, whether we like them or not, will win the day on this one. Of course, who knows what could happen between now and 2011 to alter those political considerations.

It's also a physical impossiblity, the CF is showing signs of considerable strain from Afganistan. It's hard to think what state we will be in at 2011, the only thing that is certain is that we will not be nearly as commited to Afghanistan.

Why don't we stay further. Limit the ammount of soldiers we place in the country and change our roles to just teaching the ANA and ANP how to battle the Taliban and police there country.

We still make a effort in the war but we aren't actually fighting the war anymore.

That is pretty much what is going to happen, they will probably scale the Canadian contribution to somewhere under 1000 and we will be in mainly mentoring roles. Afghanistan should no longer be a priorty after 2011.

Extending this unpopular mission beyond 2011 so far appears to be a political impossibility, though. Even the Conservative government seems to realise this.

Political considerations, whether we like them or not, will win the day on this one. Of course, who knows what could happen between now and 2011 to alter those political considerations.

I'm shocked! I actually agree with something Streaker wrote!

That is pretty much what is going to happen, they will probably scale the Canadian contribution to somewhere under 1000 and we will be in mainly mentoring roles. Afghanistan should no longer be a priorty after 2011.

Yeah, that's pretty much my guess too.

We'll have some troops training the ANA, some police training theirs, and there will more focus on civilian projects, like building schools and infrastructure.

The EROC team will probably be there still, but they will be at the request of the Americans or Brits.